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LIUWA National Park is situated in Zambia’s Western Province, home to one of the prestigious traditional ceremonies, the Kuomboka of the Lozi speaking people.
The natural treasure resort holds the second position to Masai Mara in Kenya in terms of the wildebeest migration
The Liuwa Plains are most prominent with the single attraction, the annual Blue wildebeest migration which comprises an estimated 40,000 animals or more. It the second-largest of its kind in the world. The migration takes place around November each year as rising water levels force the herds southeast in search of fresh grazing.
The first is the Maasai Mara migration which is a dramatic annual movement of more than two million wildebeest, more than 200,000 zebras, eland, gazelles, and several other herbivores. They move from the Serengeti in Tanzania to the Masai Mara in Kenya between October and December.
The two natural events can best be described as the Greatest wildlife ‘travelling roadshow’ on earth.
And Minister of Tourism Rodney Sikumba is elated and has since appreciated the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors for approving a US$ 100 million credit to strengthen Zambia’s nature-based economy and increase economic opportunities in emerging tourism destinations in the country such as Liuwa Plains National Park, Source of the Zambezi, and Kasaba Bay.
A visibly jovial Minister Sikumba strongly feels the project supports the Government’s strategic vision of increasing tourist numbers both international and domestic, improving accessibility, increasing the length of stay for tourists, diversifying the tourism product offer, and increasing the tourism sector’s contribution to the economic development of the country by providing support to effective links between Travel Document Authorization System (TDAS) and circuits.
According to data gathered through the Zambia Tourism Agency, conservation organisations such as the African Parks as well as intensive programmes of investment, protection and species re-introduction under the park’s new management, have contributed greatly to this.
Kaingu Lodge Camp Director, Gilmour Dickson, describes it as a “literal transformation” over the last few years, and gives an insight from when to visit, where to stay, and what you need to get there.
Liuwa Plain National Park, situated in the extreme West of Zambia, has gone through a literal transformation over the last years. It used to be a depleted, lesser-known and less visited area that was visited by a handful of tourists. When we first visited in 2009, we were one of only five vehicles visiting the campsite we were staying in. Getting there was an absolute chore; there were no bridges or causeway across the Zambezi floodplain, so access was completely dependent on the season and required hours of tedious driving. If you were visiting in December (during peak wildlife time) then rains could make getting there very difficult. Yet, this still worth it for those in the know.
The huge sweeping vistas, wide-open grasslands and herds of wildebeest made for scenes more like East Africa than the more wooded parks of Zambia. The sense of space and sky is unmatched by any other National Park in the country. You can drive out in the grasslands and suddenly realise that you see nothing but open space – not a tree or a feature, just rolling grass and the soaring sky.
The Park has a rich history. “Liuwa“, meaning “plain” in the local Lozi language, served as a hunting ground for LubosiLewanika, the Litunga (King) of the Lozi speaking people. The area was designated as a protected area by LubosiLewanika in the early 1880s, and as a National Park in 1972, when Zambia’s Government took over management.
The conservation organization African Parks has managed Liuwa in partnership with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife and the Barotse Royal Establishment since 2003. It is also quite unique in that there is a sizeable human population that still lives inside the Park, and this means that Zebras are sometimes seen with domestic cattle and water pools with fisher people. This adds to the uniqueness, special nature, and history of this magical place.
As a matter of serious commitment as well as massive rewards, an intensive programme of investment, protection and species re-introduction has taken place. A National Geographic video was made in 2010 about Liuwa’s last lioness (affectionately known as Lady Liuwa) and her incredible story of survival and loneliness. The story did have a happy ending with the lions’ re-introduction from the Kafue being documented. In short, Liuwa was starting to get on people’s radar due to all the efforts and exposure.
The only way to see it was to self-drive in or to be guided by Robin Pope who offered small group visits into a very basic bush camp. Either way meant making a serious commitment but with massive rewards.
Nevertheless, over the years, things changed as the management by African Parks with protection and re-introduction programmes for lion, buffalo, eland and wild dog has made a huge impact. The numbers of wildebeests that gather on the plains at the start of the rains are now estimated at over 40,000. Cheetah numbers have also expanded well under this protection – as have hyenas, which have always been here and are incredibly relaxed and accessible for viewing while the Zebra numbers have quadrupled to over 4000.
The media exposure has continued as well, with the BBC filming the spectacular sequence of wild dogs hunting in their prime-time BBC One episode “The Hunt”. Then access was transformed with a massively impressive civil engineering project of 27 bridges and a raised causeway that crosses the Zambezi floodplain. This turned a three-hour slog into an easy half-hour drive.
A very luxurious lodge “King Lewanika” was completed by Time and Tide and the four self-drive campsites have seen continuous upgrades. Mobile safari operators have also made it attractive for those not prepared to drive themselves. And then, even more recently, the BBC has again made very high-profile prime time natural history documentaries that recently aired.
Two episodes of Dynasties II have showcased Liuwa: One on the cheetah and one on hyena. The Park has been linked even further, with a good tar road running up the Zambezi from Namibia to Mongu (and then over the causeway to Kalabo and Liuwa). This has made it even more accessible and popular with self-drivers touring several countries. And now a self-catering camp has been opened by African Parks.
Liuwa’s success (like all nature-based tourism in Africa) has of course suffered a major downturn thanks to the pandemic. When we visited in 2020 and 2021 we hadn’t seen it so empty for years. But as things bounce back and coverage from the BBC (the Liuwa episodes aired in April 2022) increases the profile of the park, the numbers will start to resume their growth.
It will never feel crowded – it is too huge and too open and visitor numbers are regulated.
We have visited 11 times since our first visit in 2009. We have run fly-in mobile safaris there. We have raved about it to anyone that will listen, and we know it well. This article is an attempt to give something back and let people know how to get there and what you need.
Historically, Liuwa is known for visiting in late November or ideally early December when the wildebeest gather on the plains in huge numbers as the rains start. There are lots of young being calved, and of course, if you are extraordinarily lucky, you might see some predator action. But don’t go to Liuwa expecting the footage the BBC spent years filming! If the rains have broken, then you will see these scenes of teeming wildebeest and zebra with a background of towering cumulonimbus clouds and maybe some dramatic storms. It is rightly the most famous time but be prepared for rain. And if it has been exceptionally early and hard rains, then, be prepared for potentially wet roads and getting stuck (although this is unusual).
But the earlier part of the season brings its own beauty. The early Month of May (depending on rainfall and accessibility) is stunning – full water pools, incredible bird life (think hundreds of pelicans) and still lots of Wildebeest and Zebra around. We visited in May, June and even July and had incredibly rewarding trips.
With the new interest in terms of furthering development of the area, this time around under the GREAT-TDP programme, which is an initiative supported by Government with funding from the International Development Association (IDA) at a total cost for the project of US $100 million, this is a place to be.
The objective of the GREAT-TDP is to increase nature based economic opportunities in emerging tourism destinations in Zambia. The TDP will support the Government to increase the economic contribution of tourism to the Zambian economy through the implementation of selected priority activities in the 8th National Development Plan, the Zambia Tourism Master Plan (ZTMP 2018- 2038) and other Government policy pronouncements.
So, make Liuwa National Park your next destination of choice and cherish the natural treasures it has.
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